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United States Patent | 5,009,303 |
Lutzke | April 23, 1991 |
An automatic case accumulator accumulates and discharges cases in conjunction with a bottle filling line. Mother cases must be accumulated when a filling run is started until filled bottles are ready to be repacked into cases associated with later-filled bottles. At the end of the filling run, the mother cases are discharged to the packing machine to be loaded with the last filled bottles. The case accumulator comprises a vertically oriented frame with chains and sprockets for holding and moving a plurality of shelves. The shelves have respective bases that are in vertical alignment with portions of a number of cases that overhang a case conveyor. Raising a shelf under the case overhaning portions lifts the cases from the conveyor. Pivotable fingers on the next higher consecutive shelf are located inside the cases to prevent the cases from tipping off the shelf bases. Case stops block case downstream transportation by the conveyor while the shelves are moving vertically to accumulate or discharge the cases.
Inventors: | Lutzke; Wayne (Plymouth, WI) |
Assignee: | Nigrelli Systems, Inc. (Kiel, WI) |
Appl. No.: | 306557 |
Filed: | February 6, 1989 |
Current U.S. Class: | 198/347.3; 198/435 |
Intern'l Class: | B65G 001/00 |
Field of Search: | 198/347,435,469.1,580,803.12,347.2,347.3 414/331 221/86 251/71,126 312/268,348 |
3616966 | Nov., 1971 | Schuller et al. | 221/86. |
3954165 | May., 1976 | Snyder | 198/435. |
4251177 | Feb., 1981 | Neuhaeusser et al. | 198/347. |
4273234 | Jun., 1981 | Bourgeois | 198/347. |
4274530 | Jun., 1981 | Carter et al. | 198/347. |
4499987 | Feb., 1985 | Long | 198/347. |
4718536 | Jan., 1988 | Toby | 198/347. |
4830170 | May., 1989 | Focke | 198/347. |